The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1887-09-22
dhe G,tdliiqealrer:.
onics, Nos. rs and 81 Fourteenth Street.
DESCENDING THE rnAZEn RIVER.
Depravity Of tho Inhabitants OF tho Region,
~ ---- InteEaallnE Latter. h -,-- INV


encc WAC not great, and consisted for tho
most part In tho fac! that this second val.
Icy WAS no swamp. The river was very
wide, and the bed was Of sand, which had
massed itaell into bars and banks all
ab out in the channel from aide to side,
Some OF these higher bars were covered
with growing weeds, md they might
properly be called iBlanda. No trees grow
upon these Islands; for suppose at each
flood they are submerged, and are washed
away, while another island In another
place, or In tho same place, Is made in
Htesd. For this reason no vegetation OF a
permanent kind can grow there. Where
tho river had thus widened until 1t was
almoat o lake, 1t was full Of old trees that
had driited down on the floods and had
lodged on the bars CT sand. When they
fell, they seem to have boon torn out BY
the roots, and as they 1oa.ed down tbs
stream these roots caught in the sand.
and tho trees were held there, and many
OF them arc nov fast becoming covered
with tho sand. u may DO that thousands
Of them have been entirely buried. Per.
hsps Tor ages the work Of burial han been
in process, and beneath those broad OK.
pansas OF sand, aud under those bare and
traraltory islands may DO buried the trees
TINT grew upon those mountains thou.
sands Of years ago. ~
Even y nothing Of the kind were sug.
geated-if 1t did not Reem probable that
theso plains Of moving debris were tbs
cemeteries where million forests are en-.
tombed-it would yet be melancholy
sight to 500 these old trees slowly sinking
from the light in the treacherous sands
that DRIFT In deeper and deeper around
them. They may be counted by hundreds,
ana In every stage Of sinking. Some have
only, recently lodged there; and, ono
thinka, that they do not fully realize the
fate that awaits them. Others have yield.
ed to the Inevitable, and arc going down
slowly and abdurately to their tomb, as II
were, to be buried alive, but still resolved
to meet the doom stoicalty. Others have
snnken till only small portions are eeen,
The roots upturned, and tho huge, broken
branches liiled up as though In hopeless
despair, and yet with proud defarcs, all
whitened like chalk, from age and from
the ruina and Hood these impress
him who see until hO almost thinks that
there ia something human in these very
dead trees. 4. - =,
They have aoated there from tho rivers
above. Perhaps some Of them have come
down from that valley OF death, just above.
From That life Of dreariness they have
come TO thi8 Eidolon to meet eternity.
But, they hayo not all come from that
valley. Down the sides OF the mountains,
slopln2 to the river above here, one can
soa avenues up the sides OF the hills to
their very summits. No trees grow here.
some OF these tfeeless lanes arc one hun.
d!ed feet vide, come less than half that
wide. These lanes are the paths down
which avalsnches have come, bearing
trees and everyt thing else to the river be.
lore them. These trees are then carried
OF by floods. and hero we find them, en-.
tangled In these sands and slowly sinking,
at Winnipeg was 60 fortunate as to
make the acquaintance OF Dr.. Dickson, Of
London, q surgeon in the British army.
ne has spent sixteen years in India, had
helped auppress the insurIecsion OF Delhi,
had passed through the siege Of Lucknow,
and had been in the Afehan war. He
bud been thrown from his horse, and had
his arm broken in such q manner that It
had never gotten we'll. Hs had been
given two years furlough to Australia
Tor his health, and failing to get we'll, he
had resigned. HI waD now on bis way to
British Columbia to spend the summer
dshing: and it was his intention to buy
land there and make it his home. He
had read 8 letter in tho London 1Ymss that
bad led him to belieye that G,itiuh Colun-
bia was paradise lying idle Tor the want
OF inhabitants. AL tbs way seroes iron,
Manitoba he had been telling over what
hs thought British Columbia was like, and
what he proposed to do when no should
reach that land OF peace and sunshine,
lull Of fertile lands aud gigantic ilsh.
Well, as We advarcsd further and fur
| thor scrcss tho Rocky mcuntAinp, down
! the Frazer river into that British Column
bia Of which ne i,sd dreamed so long and
so POLITICALLY, q change gradually came
over the spirit Of his dreams. When We
had passed the two valleys, the valley Of
the swamps and tho valley OF the dead
treee, we reached region where human
beings began to live. ~
1t may be metaphor to call them hu-
man leings; but, they have some of the
characteristics o! tho children Of adam,
although about ell the essential elements
sre wanting. In the edges OF the forests
bordering on the river, and at the open.
lp2a OF some Of the most gloomy canons,
low, miserable pens could bs seen.
could havo thought them eoopa fot trap:
ping wild anims!s, had not seen the &C.
cupanta crawling forth to look at us as VIC
passed. -z g3g
Further down on the river, these
wretched beings are Chinese who aro en-.
ployed on the railroad repairo, and in cut.
ting lumber for bridges, and wood for fuel
in the engines. ! have aean all phases OF
Chinese existence; but hero new feature
wss given. had once visited ono OF
their towns where the inhabitants were
occupied in whale fishing, ond I Was I'm.
der tho Impression that nothing on earth
could be any wofse and 30 far as lllthineas
Is concerned, I still think 90. But when
itcomes to turning man into brute and
making him reptile instead Of human,
the best plsce for samples is in these
Chinese dens along the Freezer. Some OF
them live in sheds that bespeak some
thing Of decency; but the moat O.! them
crawl into holes In the rocks, Or in hol.
low trees, or make shelter Of bark and
leaves, so low that they can scarcely 81!
erect In them, and in these dens they
crawl like hegs or snakes to sleep. They
sit in crowds about tho opening Of their
pits to eat their rationa aud to amoke
their pipee, while the reck from the vile
assemblies us 60 rank that it smells to
heaven" - }15@ Val b, s, 81.
The Chinase when at their best Gre mol
apeople renowned Tor nicely or clsanliness
When they associate with the whites-1
mean when they live in communities with
white pcople-they make some effort a
appearing decent. But, when placed Of
to themselves, they become not only
heathens, but almost brutes. Far renov
ed as those on the Frazer are from whitea
they have no INCLINATION to do we'll. Theil
work even is against being clearly in theil
dress. They work in the dusty coil ant
among burnt woods where they muet BIZ
constantly vile in clothing. Then they